Integrated circuits are commonly mounted in chip carriers which are bodies of insulating material having side surfaces to which conductors from the integrated circuit extend. Traditionally, terminal pads are provided on the side surfaces of the chip carrier body and contact is made with these pads to connect the integrated circuit to conductors on a substrate, such as a ceramic substrate or a circuit board. Electrical connection is usually established with the terminal pads on the chip carrier by means of a chip carrier socket which comprises a socket body having a recess which receives the chip carrier and contact terminals in surrounding relationship to the recess so that when the chip carrier is placed in the recess, the contact terminals electrically engage the terminal pads of the chip carrier.
Notwithstanding the relatively small size of the chip carrier socket and the contact terminals in the socket, it is necessary that each terminal be capable of exerting contact force on a terminal pad in a chip carrier in order to establish good electrical connection between the contact terminal and the terminal pad on the chip carrier, particularly if the terminal pad is tin plated rather than gold plated. It should also be noted that chip carriers and chip carrier sockets are subject to the dimensional variations which all mass produced parts are subjected to. These dimensional variations result from manufacturing tolerances. However, even with dimensional variation, the design and performance requirements discussed briefly above must be satisfied even in "worst case" conditions. For example, the minimum 200 gram contact force required for each contact must be met even if the particular terminal pad that a contact terminal engages is at the lower end of the tolerance range and the contact terminal similarly is at the lower end of the tolerance range of the parts.
It is therefore essential that a chip carrier socket be provided with the capability to insure that the appropriate force be exerted on the contact terminals. It would also be helpful to have a tool which is configured to allow for the easy and reliable insertion of the chip carrier into the chip carrier socket. An insertion tool which is configured to distribute the insertion force evenly over the surface of the chip carrier would insure that each terminal pad of the chip carrier would be placed in reliable electrical connection with each terminal of the socket. Therefore, the use of an appropriate insertion tool is beneficial to the reliability of the electrical connection between the chip carrier and the socket.